Yahoo Lifestyle Five Burning Questions About What’s to Come in the Second Half of 'Fire Country' Season 3
Fire Country returns on Jan. 31 from a midseason cliffhanger, with various characters in dangerous positions. The winter premiere will reveal their fates and then set up what’s to come in the rest of Season 3. The rest of the season will introduce new characters and put main characters in new situations, all while featuring exciting firefighting action sequences that are different from the ones the show has done in the past. "
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The world just feels bigger, but still local,” co-creator and star Max Thieriot says of the rest of Season 3.
Here are five burning questions about what’s coming up in the second half of Fire Country Season 3.
Related: Everything to Know About Fire Country Season 3
How will the Bode-Gabriela-Audrey love triangle play out?
Fire Country ended one love triangle earlier this season, as Diego (Rafael de la Fuente) and Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila) split up in dramatic fashion. A helicopter crash interrupted their wedding, and they never picked up where they left. Only for the season to immediately introduce a new third person in Bode and Gabs’ triangular dynamic. Bode and Audrey (Leven Rambin) are obviously feeling sparks between them. And though they haven’t confirmed their attraction to each other with a kiss yet, the near-death experience the first half of the season’s cliffhanger ending left them in–hanging on for dear life in a swimming pool while a wildfire burns everything around them, with Bode supporting Audrey because she can’t swim–will probably inspire them to show some passion.
But then what? How will Gabriela react to seeing the man she loves but is choosing not to be with dating someone else? How will Bode deal with being in a relationship with someone who’s great, but isn’t Gabriela (ironically, the inverse of last season’s love triangle)? How it all plays out remains to be seen by fans. But Thieriot is excited about what’s coming up for Bode and Audrey in the midseason premiere.
“Audrey has been such a fun character for the show,” he told Parade. “She adds such a different presence in the fire station and in Bode’s life. For someone who’s had a hard time fitting in a lot of places, it really feels like she fits in. I think the fun thing is that she and Bode have lived so many of the same life experiences that most people don’t go through. And their ability to relate to one another and really see each other is unique and special. I think that’s why they’re starting to have this relationship, whatever it is.”
Related: Fire Country Star Max Thieriot Talks Bode's Major Milestone and Sending Off Jared Padalecki
Will Gabriela pull herself out of her tailspin?
Since she broke up with Diego and told Bode that they shouldn’t be together, Gabriela has been on a downward spiral, acting out in almost every way she can. She’s drinking too much, working too much, doing dangerous solo cliff dives, and letting the trailer she’s living in get filthy. She even hooked up with her ex Jake (Jordan Crawford). She’s stressed about her father, Manny (Kevin Alejandro), being incarcerated again, having to pay off her canceled wedding, and the situation with Bode.
Anyone who reaches out for help, she lashes out and pushes them away. And now her attitude has gotten her in physical danger, as she walked off the job after getting into an argument with Jake, and found herself trapped by herself in an escalating forest fire. It’s been painful to watch Gabriela struggle all season, but showrunner Tia Napolitano says it’s all for a purpose.
“On our show, a lot of the characters show you who they are when the chips are down for them," she told Parade. "And she's been, other than this season, just shiny and an Olympian and a firefighter. Girl wins medals! That’s what she does. And I like to challenge characters and see what they do when things are not going as well for them, and see what that brings out. And it's really brought new depths for Stephanie as an actress and new flavors for Gabriela in a way that just makes me love her more.”
Napolitano says that the writers are cognizant of how far they can push Gabriela. Now that she's hit rock bottom, there's nowhere to go but up, and that rise will begin in the second half of the season. “We're gonna see her pull out of the nose dive,” Napolitano says. “We’re gonna get some of our old Gabriela back.”
How will Bode react to finding out that Gabriela and Jake slept together?
In Episode 8, Jake told Gabriela that he felt the need to tell Bode that he and Gabriela slept together in a drunken, pain-and-stress-fueled moment of weakness. Gabriela disagreed, reasoning that it's nobody's business what two single, consenting adults do together. But if Jake really feels that not telling Bode what happened would violate bro code, she won't stop him. She and Bode aren't together, so it doesn't really matter.
But, in actuality, it might matter to Bode. He might be upset that his best friend hooked up with his ex. He would probably get over it; after all, that's exactly what he did when he got together with Gabriela after she and Jake broke up. But he might say something to Jake in the heat of the moment that he regrets.
One thing's for certain, though: Jake and Gabs will not be getting back together. "We didn't want to have Gabriela flip-flop and have feelings for Jake again," Napolitano said. "It really just is two single young people blowing off steam."
Related: Fire Country Showrunner Breaks Down Those Fiery Winter Finale Cliffhangers
How will Sheriff Country get set up?
There’s a Fire Country spinoff in the works for the 2025-26 season called Sheriff Country. It will star Morena Baccarin as Sheriff Mickey Fox, who was introduced in the Season 2 episode “Alert the Sheriff.” Mickey is Sharon's (Diane Farr) step-sister and Bode’s aunt, and in her episode, she was appointed sheriff of Edgewater.
We haven’t seen Mickey since that episode, which aired back in April 2024. So she’ll need to make another appearance on Fire Country to build anticipation for the new show. And Napolitano says we will see Mickey in Season 3 “for sure.” Baccarin even posted a set photo with Farr on Jan. 10.
The latest news about Sheriff Country is that Deadwood veteran W. Earl Brown has been cast as Wes, “an off-the-grid marijuana grower as well as the father of Sheriff Mickey Fox and stepfather of Sharon Leone.” He’s described as a “lovable outlaw” and a “Rippie (redneck hippie)” whose unreliability causes problems with his family. He’ll guest star on Fire Country before becoming a series regular on Sheriff Country, according to Deadline.
Related: Everything to Know About Sheriff Country
Will the real-life Los Angeles wildfires affect Fire Country?
Fire Country is about fictitious California firefighters. But real life collided with the show in a big way at the beginning of 2025 when devastating wildfires burned thousands of acres in the Los Angeles area. The tragedy has raised public awareness of Cal Fire and the inmate firefighter program, which is what Fire Country is about. So the show’s dramatization of wildland firefighting has never been more relevant, and also could put the show in an uncomfortable position, depending on how you look at it. And the people who make the show don’t take their platform lightly.
Fire Country star Diane Farr lives in the area affected by the Eaton Fire, and she says her proximity to the real-life fires and firefighters makes her feel the need to work even harder to get their stories right. “I feel proud to portray [a Cal Fire firefighter],” Farr told Parade. “But in this moment, I have never wanted to get something more right than I have right now, as the world sort of turns their gaze to what wildland firefighters do, and what the incarcerated are doing.”
The cast of Fire Country posted a video on Instagram calling for donations to the American Red Cross to help support people affected by the wildfires.
Fire Country Season 3 returns Friday, Jan. 31 at 9/8c on CBS and Paramount+.
